ACSI polls 70,000 consumers each year, asking questions about customer satisfaction with over 225 companies in 47 industries. This year Apple was nine points above the industry average of 74, and eight points above runners-up Nokia, HTC, and LG.

Arch-rival Samsung was near the bottom of the satisfaction barrel, with a dismal 71 point total. The formerly powerful RIM, manufacturer of the BlackBerry line of smartphones, was at the bottom. It could only scrape together 69 points, a full 14 points below Apple and five points below the industry average.

The survey also listed customer satisfaction with wireless carriers. Sprint came in at the top spot with 71 points, Verizon at 70, and AT&T and T-Mobile at 69 points. Surprisingly, AT&T's score was four points higher than its 2011 score.